Automobile washing apparatus



J D.ID. HEIMBURGER ,0

AUTOMOB ILE WASHING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 10, 1930. D. D. HEIMBURGER 1,753,046

AUTOMOBILE WASHING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W h a I U 7.. ill f 4 0 f 0 0 I Z 6 i A Z j I i Patented June 10, 1930 I UNITED STATES PATEVNVTVY "OFFICER DOUGLAS D. HEIEMBURGER,

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURL ASSIGNOR TO MARQUETTE MANU- FACTURING OMPANY, OF ST. PAUL, MI NNESOTA AUTOMOBILE WASHING APPARATUS Application filed November 28, 1927. Serial No, 236,171..,

form of mist against an automobile body and parts thereof for securing greater eifective-v ness in having these fine particles penetrate the dirt and other foreign matter upon the automobile.

It may be here mentioned that heretofore when water and air were used in combination for automdbile washing, the force or velocity of the air or water was such as'to do injury to the finish of the automobile and insome instances, the water was placed under pressureby being run through pumping mechanisms and it is my object to provide a nozzle forming a part of my apparatus, wherein the mixing of water, air and soap may take place in such proportions and quantities as desired for securing in the discharge end of the nozzle, a stream of combined water, air and soap in mist form.

Still a further object is to provide a mixing nozzle orchamber having a Venturi tube.

openingat its inlet end and a Venturi opening' at its discharge end, the stream. of .air being injected into the mixing nozzle through one of the Venturi, openings at a point where movement of the -mixin serve as a seal or cut-o for the supply of water which enters the'mixing nozzle or for governing theamount or quantity of water entering the mixingnozzle.

Still a further object-is to provide an apparatus wherein *a soap mixture may be pumped. from a source of supply tothe dischargenozzle where it will be mixed withfwater and air underpressure' before being discharged to atmosphere, the soap supply being independently regulated relative to the water and air mixture." w

- Still another object is to provide a nozzle nozzle itself may forming part of the apparatus which may be convenientlymoved from place to place and used for directing the stream of automobile washing fluid at any directed point upon the automobile and at the same time such nozzle contains various manually controlled valve mechanisms for cutting ofl' either the supply of air or soap and by turning a portion of the nozzle itself, the water supply may also be cut off or its amount of flow varied as desired.

With these and other objects in view my ini vention consists in the construction, arrangement 'and combination of'the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contein-' plated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out inmy .claims, andsillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which i i Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved car washing apparatus disclosing the entire mechanism which forms part of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a detail sectional viewthrough the pump mechanism for forcing soap solu--.

tion to the discharge nozzle.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 ofFigure 1, parts being broken away and shown in section to better illustrate the construction.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the entire nozzle assembly.

Figure 5 is a central sectional'view through.

the same.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken onthe line 6 6 of Figure 5", and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77'of Figure 6. i .In the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally an air compressor which is driven by anelectric motor 12. A storage tank 14;

is employed for containing the compressed air and serves as a source of air supply for the car washing apparatus.

A control valve 16 is mounted upon the tank 14 from which leads a flexible tube 18 through which air is allowed to-pass from a source of supply to a car washing nozzle A. Details of construction of the car wash- 'the container or tank B and is in commu nication with a small pump mechanism C. The pump mechanism C is of any suitable kind and as disclosed in my drawings, includes a pair of coacting gear elements 22 which are driven by an electric motor 24. The pump C includes a casing 24 having an inlet opening 26 and a discharge opening or outlet 28.

The pipe 20 is in communication with the inlet opening 26. Formed within the casing 24 is a by-pass 30 having a check valve 32 therein. The by-pass is used for carrying excess liquid from .the discharge side of the pump gears 22 to the inlet side providing the amount of fluid actually consumed is less than the amount forced through the gear elements 22.

By this device I am able to completely shut oil the flow of soap solution and yet have the pump mechanism in continuous operation. The check valve 32 which consists of a spring pressed ball, may be adjusted for requiring greater pressure in keeping the valve opened and allowing liquid to flow through the by-pass.

A flexible tube or conduit 34 is connected to a fitting or pipe 88 which is in turn, mounted upon the discharge end of the pumping mechanism C. The fitting or pipe 38 and conduit 36 take the contents from the pump C at the outlet opening 28 of the casing 24.

The flexible conduit 36 is connected to the nozzle A. A water hose 40 is connected to K a water hydrant 42 at one end and at its other end, is connected to the nozzle A.

From the description of the parts ust described, it will be clearly seen that the nozzle A has connected to it three flexible tubes or hoses, one for supplying air, another for supplying water and a third one for supplying soap solution to the nozzle. These three hoses at their other or free ends, are connected in turn, to the source of air supply, to the source of water supply and to the source of soap solution supply.

The nozzle A includes a fitting or body element 44 which is hollow and forms a water receiving chamber 46. The water hose 40 is connected to a nipple or hose connection 48 whereby the water supply may be admitted into the chamber 46.

, A partition wall 5O is formed within the body element 44 in the nozzle A and separates the air supply from the water chamber 46. An opening 52 is formed in part of the partition and it is througl'nthis opening that the air supply is allowed to pass into an air injector 54.

The air injector 54 is tapered somewhat so that its outer free end is formed with an inclined surface 56, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully set forth. An air hose adaptor 58 is screwed into the body element 44 at one end and has its other end fastened to the air hose 18.

The air passes into the body element 44 on one side of the partition 50. and thence through the opening 52. The partition 50 has the air injector 54 mounted therein and the air after passing through the opening 52 goes into the injector 54.

The opening 52 is controlled by a manually operated valve structure I). The valve structure D includes a stem 60 having a handle 62 thereon. The lower end of the stem 60 is formed with an enlarged portion 64 having a washer recess 66 formed therein in which is mounted a comparatively hard rubber washer 68. The washer 68 is held in place by a screw 7 0 whereby washers may be changed from time to time when necessary.

The enlarged portion 64 is screw threadedly connected with a nut 7 2 which in turn is screw threadedly connected with the body element 44. A stufiing box 74 is connected with a nut 72 and extends around the stem 60 of the valve D.

From the construction of the parts just described, it will be noted that rotation of the stem 60 will impart movement to the valve mechanism D away from or towards a portion of the partition 50. The washer 68 may completely cover the opening 52 and thus serve as a cut-off for the supply of air.

A soap nozzle or jet 7 6 is extended through one side of the body element 44 and into the chamber 46 adjacent the air injector 54. The nozzle 76 is screw threadedly mounted in the body element 44 and has a pet cook 78 connected thereto just outside of the body element 44 so that the supply of soap solution may be closed when desired or the amount of .flow thereof, limited.

and has one end inserted in a hub portion 88 which is formed upon the body element 44. The hub 88 is exteriorly screw threaded as at 90 and a packing nut 92 extends around one end of the mixing chamber 82 and coacts with the screw threads 90 as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings.

Thetube like mixing chamber 82 may be moved longitudinally relative to the body element '44, this being allowed by Virtue of the 82, there being normally a space provided between the Venturi fitting 94 and the outer end of the air injector nozzle 54. This is shown in Figure 5 of the drawings. Water enters the mixing chamber in a hollow col-' umn form.

When it is desired to out off the supply of water or control the flow thereof, it is only necessary to shift the position of the tube like mixing chamber 82 towards or from the 1 air injector nozzle 54. The mixing chamber 'is formed with a knurled hand grip 96 for conveniently grasping the chamber 82 and al- I lowing its easy manipulation.

The outer end of the tubelike chamber 82 is also formed with a Venturi fitting 98. The Venturi fitting is screw threadedly connected to the tube 82. It will thus be seen that the tube 82 has a Venturi tube opening at both its-inlet and outlet ,ends and that these Venturi openings are spaced. somelittle distance apart so that/the entire tube between the two Ventur-i openings, forms a mixing chamber for completely mixing and churning the solutions all-owed toenter such chamber.

The amount of water supply may be governed by moving the tube like chamber 82 towards or from the nozzle 54. The amount of soap solution allowed to enter in the chamber 46 and mix with the water and then enter the mixing chamber 82, may be controlled by the pet cook 78.

The air supply may likewise be controlled to suit the various requirements. It is quite desirable that the water pressure be uniform and it will be understood thatwhere the device is connected to city water pressures, that such pressures vary a considerable amount so that -as a matter of fact in various communities,'it is necessary to shift the position of the tube like mixing chamber 82 for taking care of this difference ber 82. Air is then turned on at the pressure of the source and allowed to enter the mixing chamber.

The water and air both enter the Venturi opening in the fitting 94 at'substantially the smallest portion of the opening so that there is some back pressure created at the small portion of this Venturi opening. Of course, the air and water at this point when being forced into the mixing chamber 82, are allowed to expand. 1

This action continues and air .and water being shot into the mixing chamber 82 gives to the water and air a complete churning effect. The air coming in at the pressure of the source breaks up the water within the chamber until it is in fine particles.

with a film of water thereover. This forms a very fine spray or mist solution. The mist form is in reality made up of a great number of air bubbles or air globules with a film of water therearound and while there is a Each particle consists of a bubble of air' great force compelling these globules to be I discharged from the nozzle, yet when they strike the automobile body each globule or the air thereof, serves to cushion the direct effect of the water against the automobile body.

In other words, each globule of air together with the film of water thereon, forms a resilient body which even though it strikes the automobile under. a terrific force does no injury to the finish thereof.

This mist solution isthen forced into the Venturi opening in the tip 98 and allowed to go to atmosphere. The discharge of such mist solution is in a stream of considerable velocity and yet in such form aswill do no injury to the automobile finishl The fine particles or mist even though under tremendous pressure does not exert any injurious force upon the automobile yet each of these. little particles carried by force against the automobile, become further broken up and penetrate and cut dirt and grease from the automobile.

The soap solution may be turned on at any time desired preferably at the commencement of the automobile washing and certain quantity of soap solution will enter with the water and, become thoroughly mixed and churned in the chamber 82. The soap'solut-ion which displaces a certain amount of water supply,

takes the same action within the chamber 82 turned off so that only water at its own pressure may be discharged.

It will be further noted that in some instances where quick drying of parts of the automobile is desired, that both the water and soap supply may be turned off and only air allowed to pass through the mixing chamber 82. This air may be preheated in some instances a slight amount so that the drying and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably includedwithin their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A car washing apparatus comprising a source of air supply, a source of water supply and a source of soap solution supply, conduits leading from said sources of supply, a common discharge nozzle in connection with each of said conduits, said nozzle including a under pressure and a source of soap solution under pressure, a nozzle body for receiving the air, water and soap, means within said body for discharging the soap and water therefrom through a tubular opening, the soap being discharged into said opening at an angle relative to the axis thereof, means for discharging the air at the center of said tubular opening and means for regulating the size thereof, said means comprising a mixing tube, a Venturi sleeve therein, said tube being longitudinally adjustable for varying the distance between the sleeve and the air discharge means.

Des Moines, Iowa, November 19, 1927.

DOUGLAS D. HEIMBURGER.

tubular opening through which the soap solution and water may pass, the soap solution being discharged into such tubular opening at an angle relative to the axis thereof, and a single means for cutting 01f the supply from two of said conduits arranged in the nozzle.

2. A car washing apparatus comprising a source of air supply, a source of water supply and a source of soap solution supply, conduits leading from said sources of supply, a common discharge nozzle in connection with each of said conduits and means including atubular opening with means for discharging the soap solution thereinto at an angle relative to the axis of said opening whereby the soap solution and water may be mixed before the same isallowed to coact with the air supply, a single means for cutting OK the supply from the sources of water and soap solution supply arranged in the nozzle and a mixing chamber wherein said air and water are received before final discharge, said mixing chamber having Venturi shaped inlet and outlet openings, and being tube like and of considerable length for allowing complete mixing of the air and water in their travel between said openings. 1 I

3. A car washing apparatus comprising a source of compressed air, a source of water 

